Cold as ice
by MyLadyDay
Summary: Sanji leaves Zoro in their apartment, pissed off and alone, after a big fight. With a raging storm outside, how could things possibly get worse than they already are? AU Birthday fic for Fuyunoneko


**Happy birthday, Fuyunoneko-dear! Love you and I hope you like this, it's just a little something I managed to put together in the middle of a stress filled week (or three). You're adorable ^.^**

"Screw you, marimo!" Sanji yelled before slamming the door shut behind him. He was gone before Zoro could even reply to his face, opting for yelling at the closed door instead.

"Screw you too, dartbrow!"

It was infuriating to say the least; Zoro was left all alone in the apartment while Sanji raged outside just like the current snowstorm. Against his better judgment and Zoro's pleas, the cook left for the train station anyway. Zoro was too mad to worry about the blond after being left all alone in their shared apartment to spend the rest of their break from class by himself. Sure, he wasn't into celebrating Christmas and he hated carolers with a burning passion, but the thought of being locked away together until the weather subsided was really appealing. Until Sanji got an invite from his old friends back home and decided to suddenly visit his old man.

Feeling another bout of frustration coming over him, Zoro punched the door and groaned in annoyance. He didn't even get to give Sanji his present. Even if they did think of the holidays as just a break from college, Zoro couldn't help but buy the silver lighter with a mermaid engraved on it when he saw it; it almost screamed the cook's name. It would have made him smile if he weren't feeling like ripping his hair out. He couldn't care less about the holidays, but he did want to spend their first anniversary with Sanji, as annoying as the blond could be at times.

Zoro groaned once again and moved back to the couch where their argument had started in the first place. The TV was still on and he changed the program, but didn't really pay attention to what he was watching with his mind constantly wandering to Sanji. For a moment, his concern got the better of him and he glanced over to the window; he could barely see anything other than a flurry of snow and the general flickering white through the part of the window that wasn't completely covered in snow. Sanji was a dumbass for going out in that weather, they both knew it, but the painfully stupid fight apparently rid them both of any common sense.

For what felt like the millionth time that day, Zoro sighed. It was too late to go follow the cook or do anything else to get him to come back; not that he really wanted to. After all, that would be like admitting defeat and giving in. Finding no other solution, he closed his eyes and settled more comfortably on the couch before dozing off. No matter how pissed off he was, sleep never eluded him.

XXX

It was dark and all he could hear was screaming. A voice spoke over the sounds of chaos and mayhem, but he couldn't understand what it was. With a twitch, Zoro woke up fully and opened his eyes. The living room looked just as he did when he fell asleep and the TV was still on. The TV. He turned and saw a woman standing in the storm, trying hard to speak over the howling wind. The title in the bottom of the screen told him he was watching the news. After a few confused blinks, Zoro re-read the title and turned up the volume. According to the woman and the text on screen, the 5:30 train to Kiruna derailed due to the heavy snowfall. The text changed into a notice that at least five people lost their lives and the rescue crews were working on finding survivors.

5:30 train to Kiruna…

5:30… train…

Fear in its finest form washed over Zoro like a wave; that was Sanji's train. Sanji was on that train. _His _Sanji was on the train that derailed. They were looking for more survivors, but it was dark and the snow was falling heavily. He was frozen in place, sitting on the couch and simply staring at the screen. The feeling of emptiness was crushing him, impossible as that may sound, but he could still faintly feel his chest heaving. His whole focus was on an image of Sanji his mind had conjured; bloodied in the snow, all alone and cold. Where the image came from, he couldn't tell, but it was there and he couldn't un-see it.

The numbness was overwhelming as he somehow found himself running through the room and out the door, blinded by the snow for a moment. It brought him back to his senses and only made way for panic. The snowflakes hit his face repeatedly, prickling his skin, but he couldn't care less. The cold wasn't registering at all, despite lack of jacket, but he did somehow manage to pull some boots on before running out. When he had done it was a mystery. His mind was solely set on Sanji, the thought of where he was going or how he would find him wasn't reaching him. He noticed an addition of moisture on his face; it was warmer than the snowflakes hitting his face repeatedly and the wind cooling his skin to an insufferable degree. Every bit of exposed skin was hit mercilessly, already frozen as he ran through the snow. He was running for what felt like hours in the cold, yet it only felt like hours away from Sanji.

Zoro had no idea where he was going, he just ran, disregarding the snow and cold as well as his emotions that were trying to burst out. His heart felt like it might explode from beating too fast, the adrenaline threatening to drown him. What if they didn't find Sanji? What would he do without him? It was something he never thought of admitting to the blond. Hell, he hadn't even thought of it at all before, facing the notion as the loss hit him head on.

It was funny how he didn't get lost for once, finding whatever it was he didn't know he was looking for. Chilled to the bone and panting in the snow storm, Zoro stood before the train station. It looked just as deserted as he felt and it all crashed down on him. Sanji might be dead. He might never see his blond ever again. The tears just started without his consent and he felt emptier than ever all of a sudden. His eyes burned, his fingertips too frostbitten to hurt, but he didn't mind. Not like he could do anything to stop it. Zoro stood in the falling snow, shivering and staring at the train station. What could he do? It made him feel weak, useless and helpless as reality crashed on him along with the snow. He never thought he would have to find out the hard way how true the saying "you never know what you have until you lose it" was.

His knees were weak and he almost dropped into the snow, but barely stopped himself in time. Time. Something he didn't get with Sanji.

"Marimo?" he heard someone calling to him through the wind and his blood boiled. Only the cook was allowed to call him that. "Marimo, what the hell are you doing here?" The voice was closer this time and it sounded like Sanji, but it couldn't be him. Could it? His heart ached, knowing he would probably have to live with hearing the cook's voice when he wasn't really there.

"Oi! Zoro!" A hand touched Zoro's cheek, startling him for a moment before he lifted his gaze. He was staring right into the cook's concerned face.

"S-Sanji…?" he stuttered. His hands moved at a frightening speed, grabbing the cook and pulling him closer as if he might disappear, but even to Zoro's almost frozen body the cook felt very real. Zoro pulled him closer, as close as humanly possible and held onto him as if his life depended on it. "Sanji…" he breathed out in relief, confusing the cooks even more.

"Zoro, what the hell?" the cook asked, more confused than anything else.

"You're okay…" Zoro simply whispered in the crook of the cook's neck, smiling softly as he was more assured that the cook was in fact okay. "I thought you were dead…" he added with a frown, his fingers clutching tighter into Sanji's coat.

"Dead? Zoro, why would I be dead?"

Finally Zoro pulled away, but didn't let go of Sanji. "The train to Kiruna derailed. I thought you were on it," he said, staring at the cook in confusion as the other blushed under the already cold red patches on his cheeks.

"I… I decided to stay," he simply said, averting his eyes. Zoro pulled him into a tight embrace once again.

"I'm so glad you're okay," he said again and concern flooded over Sanji. He had never seen the marimo in a state such as that one; out in a blizzard without a coat, with frozen tears on his red face and a voice that could only sound so relieved after getting back what he thought was forever lost. The realization that the marimo was in fact not wearing a coat snapped Sanji out of his thoughts long enough to slide out of the other's grip.

"You're gonna freeze like that, marimo. Let's go home," he said sternly, deciding not to comment on the other's appearance more than he already had. The marimo, however, didn't move. He stood in the snow, just observing the cook who was indeed alive and well. Also getting angrier by the second, if his snarl was anything to go by.

Sanji grabbed Zoro's cold hand and started dragging him through the deserted street. He could help the marimo's body heat with his own as soon as they got home.


End file.
